


Goats and Wormholes

by Allerleirauh



Category: Sapphire and Steel, Stargate Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe, Community: Fic Rush, Community: trope_bingo, Crossover, Gen, Post Series (both of them)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-21
Updated: 2013-04-21
Packaged: 2017-12-09 02:34:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/768959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Allerleirauh/pseuds/Allerleirauh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>Destiny’s</i> crew is a real menace. Creating time-breaks seems to be a hobby for them. Something needs to be done and it’s Silver who gets the unthankful job of trying to convince them of stopping that kind of dangerous behaviour. A slight miscalculation leads him to believe his best choice to convince someone to give up on <i>Destiny’s</i> mission might be a certain Dr Nicholas Rush.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Goats and Wormholes

Nicholas Rush was no stranger to hallucinations. Ever since he had discovered the _Destiny’s_ bridge he had become rather used to them in fact. His dead wife Gloria seemed to be his most constant companion there, though a few times the equally dead Franklin had joined him lately. He was accustomed to seeing them, even though the frequency of their appearances had lessened since the bridge wasn’t his secret anymore. Sometimes he even looked forward to their appearances. They were people he could share his thoughts with, and unlike the rest of the crew he didn’t have to worry about them going behind his back afterwards.

Therefore hearing a strange voice, coming from behind him, didn’t startle him as much as it probably should have.

“Impressive!” the voice exclaimed.

Cocking his head, Rush tried to identify it, but couldn’t place it. Slowly he turned in his chair and looked up to the bridge’s entrance. He was curious which new ghost of his past had decided to grace him with its presence today. What he saw was a surprise.

There stood a man, casually leaning over the railing that separated the heightened entrance from the rest of the bridge. Rush still couldn’t place him. He was sure of one thing only: this was neither someone of _Destiny’s_ crew nor someone he’d come to know through the Icarus programme.

“Isn’t it,” he answered cautiously.

“Oh yes,” the stranger replied as he walked down the gently sloping ramp that lead him onto the bridge proper.

The leisurely stroll gave Rush all the time he needed to study the man. He appeared to be in his early forties, with a lean frame and a shock full of ginger hair that even in the bridge’s dim lighting immediately caught the eye. He wore a grey suit that looked so incredibly retro that Rush supposed it might possibly be hip again in certain circles. Rush had never been particularly interested in such sartorial matters. He mostly dealt with clothes and clothing in a strictly functional way.

He watched as the man drew to a halt in front of him and, leaning back against another of the bridge’s consoles, gave him another friendly smile.

“Tell me,” the stranger asked nonchalantly, “are you purposefully overlooking that stable wormhole lying almost directly in your ship’s path?”

The question hit Rush without warning and all the alarm he hadn’t felt at the unexpected appearance of this stranger now seemed eager to make up for lost time. From one moment to the next his heart was racing. He looked down at the control panel to his side and checked the sensor data. If there really was a wormhole somewhere nearby, surely _Destiny’s_ sensors should have picked up some sign of it he thought, but he couldn’t find anything.

Even while he was checking two more observations he had made about his visitor warred for attention in his mind. First, the man had a British accent. Normally that should make it easier to identify him, but still he couldn’t. Rush was almost sure now that he had never met this man before. That, of course, led to his second observation.

“I think this time you’ve really made a mistake,” he told the stranger or more precisely, he thought, the ship.

The stranger’s expression turned decidedly blasé at hearing his words. “A mistake? I don’t think so. You see, I never make mistakes.” His voice held the ring of utter conviction, yet suddenly a frown appeared on his face before he added in a slightly hushed tone, “Well, at least almost never, and that last time happened under really extraordinary circumstances, whatever Steel might think.”

He gave Rush a puzzled look as if only then realising what he had just said and to whom. In a more normal voice he continued, “Anyway, the wormhole is there. I _know_ it is.”

Rush, however, wasn’t particularly interested in the wormhole right now. “When I said you’ve made a mistake, I wasn’t speaking about the wormhole. I meant this apparition of yours. You know, I had been halfway convinced that it was my own mind coming up with these images, but if they were a figment of my imagination they should be exclusively mine. Yet I don’t know you. I’m sure we’ve never met.” He rose from his seat. “The only logical explanation is that you are a manifestation of _Destiny’s_ AI.” He took the necessary two steps until he stood right in front of the stranger.

“A manifestation?” The man’s tone was incredulous.

Rush only nodded.

The stranger leaned towards him and laid a friendly hand on Rush’s shoulder, saying, “Look, I appreciate that you’re under a lot of stress here, but I can assure you, I’m neither a figment of your imagination nor some clever manifestation of your ship’s artificial intelligence.”

Rush looked at him.

“Are you all right?” the stranger asked.

The man had _touched_ him, Rush thought. He had _touched_ him. For a split second he went so far as to seriously contemplate calling Young. This might actually be dangerous he thought. Then he reined himself in. Calling Young? Whom was he kidding? He shook his head. “Who are you?” he asked.

The frown that had appeared on the stranger’s face vanished instantly. “Ah, you might call me Silver if you like,” he said amiably.

“And you’re telling me, there’s a stable wormhole lying in _Destiny’s_ path.”

“Yes.”

“Why?” Rush asked.

Now the frown reappeared, “How should I know why?”

Rush sighed. “No, I don’t mean why it is there, if it _is_ even there. I mean, why are you telling me this?”

“Well, it’s a way to get home.” Silver replied casually, as if that would explain it all.

Rush turned and went back to the command chair where he sat down, folding his hands in his lap. “Home,” he repeated. “I see.” Surreptitiously checking his sensor data again, he noticed that there actually seemed to be _something_ out there, though he still couldn’t tell if it was indeed a wormhole or, say, a gigantic, invisible goat, ready to devour his _Destiny_ , should she dare venturing too close. He paused, and then frowned at the analogy. Where had _that_ come from he wondered. He gave Silver a suspicious glare.

“There’s another good reason,” Silver added, and now he sounded even more casual. “All this time travelling of yours, it’s causing a lot of trouble. It would really be in anyone’s best interest if you stopped doing it.”

Rush snorted. “As if I didn’t know, I bloody died during those time travels — twice.”

Now Silver looked at least a little bit impressed. “All the more reason, to pack up here and go home, don’t you think?” he asked again.

Rush slowly shook his head. “No, thank you. It’s not as if I didn’t appreciate the offer, but going home is actually the last thing on my mind.”

“What about the others?”

“What about them?”

Silver sighed. “Maybe I should talk to _them_ ,” he began.

Rush snorted. “I wouldn’t. Unlike me they are far less lenient in dealing with strange apparitions.” He raised his eyebrows. “I wouldn’t want you to come to any harm.”

“I see,” Silver answered. “And you’re sure I couldn’t convince you to reconsider—”

He hadn’t even finished the sentence when Rush interrupted him, his voice loud now, perhaps a bit too loud even. “I told you, I don’t want to go home!” Rush closed his eyes, taking deep breaths as he waited for the next response.

For a while there was absolute silence.

“Yes, Nicholas, I’m well aware of that.” Young’s voice behind his back was deceptively mild.

Rush’s eyes flew open at the sound, and with surprise he noticed that his strange visitor was gone. He heard Young slowly walking towards him. He considered what to say next.

“I’ve been talking to myself,” he finally replied.

Young gave him a sympathetic smile. “Yeah, I gathered as much. Why don’t you let me take over for a while here? You look like you could use some sleep.”

Normally it would be a tempting offer. Yet, in _Destiny’s_ path a wormhole was beckoning now and so Rush simply shook his head. “Thanks for the offer, but I really would like to stay for a while.” He smiled back at Young and said, “After all, it isn’t as if anything out of the ordinary is happening today.” Leaning back, he gazed forward at the slowly moving stars in _Destiny’s_ path. _No_ , he thought, _nothing out of the ordinary at all._


End file.
